Kiddie culture.

Worship of the young at the expense of the old, indeed, the invention of whole categories of young - teens, pre-teens, teeny-boppers, bobby-soxers - has always been characteristic of twentieth-century mass culture, the purpose of which is simply to create a consumer market aligned with hormones, an unbeatable combination, if the number of fortunes it has generated is any proof

If our culture seems shallow one of the reasons is that it massively caters to the juvenile. Kids vote, consume, and drive music and sports culture.

If adults seem like they got sidelined, consider how society has been affected by people who make fortunes out of pandering to kiddies and amplifying every juvenile impulse of spasm.

Do kids have a rebellious streak during adolescence? If so, then celebrate rebellion with all the technical and persuasive power available to Hollywood and Madison Avenue.

Do kids find adults to be drones with their demands for taking responsibility and self control? Then paint every adult as a nimrod.

"Walter Block: The New Is Not Necessarily Better Than The Old." By Lila Rajiva, The Mind-Body Politic, 12/28/11.